


family reunions and hurt feelings

by counting2fifteen



Series: parent!phan in written order [5]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic, Easter, Family Reunions, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, family arguments, parent!phan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23480527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/counting2fifteen/pseuds/counting2fifteen
Summary: Just because you're family doesn't mean you always get along.OR:Adrian brings his new girlfriend to Easter dinner, and Dan doesn't like her.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: parent!phan in written order [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1521053
Comments: 9
Kudos: 72
Collections: Phandom Writers Discord 2020 Spring Fic Exchange





	family reunions and hurt feelings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rainbowchristy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowchristy/gifts).



> I promise this was _supposed_ to be fluffy. Oops.

Dan was never going to offer to host something again, at least not if it involved any sort of human interaction on his part.

His relationship with his family had always been strained, but the only people from his side of the family he had invited were his mother, his grandparents, and his brother Adrian. Except then Adrian had brought his girlfriend, completely uninvited, and she was lovely enough, but they’d only been dating three months, and Dan hadn’t invited _her_ , goddamnit, he’d invited Adrian. And he definitely couldn’t ask her to leave, because then she’d think they all hated her, and it wasn’t that Dan _did_ , it was just that, well, she had messed up his plans, so maybe he did, a little.

He was going to have some words with Adrian later. Some very strongly worded words. For now, he introduced himself and Phil to Adrian’s girlfriend, made a note of her name (Chelsea), and slipped into the forced smile he used during uncomfortable interviews where they asked too many personal questions about his relationship with Phil or their children.

If Chelsea recognized him and Phil as those washed up YouTubers who were popular five years ago, she didn’t say anything. She was about the right age to have been part of their fanbase at the time, Dan thought cynically. He’d be surprised if she didn’t know who he was at all. And honestly, if she knew who Dan was, what were the odds that she hadn’t recognized Adrian’s last name?

It was bad enough that Adrian had brought Chelsea, but he had also brought her early, and Dan and Phil’s daughter was in no way dressed enough for a family gathering, let alone a family gathering where a near stranger was attending.

Phil gently touched Dan’s arm, sensing his stress. “I’ll go get Fiona ready,” he said.

Dan wished desperately that he had time to lean into Phil’s touch, but the roast was in the oven and Chelsea’s eyes were lingering on Phil’s hand, so he didn’t. “Thank you,” he said to Phil, then, to Adrian and Chelsea, “I’m just finishing up in the kitchen, if you don’t mind joining.”

Adrian and Chelsea followed Dan politely to the kitchen, still holding hands, and leaned against the counter while Dan busied himself with the roast. Adrian cleared his throat. “How are things going with Fiona?” he asked politely.

“She’s doing well,” Dan said. Normally he could easily be coaxed into hours of conversation about his daughter, but he wasn’t in the mood today. “How are you?”

“We’re good!” Adrian said, and Dan felt a twinge of annoyance at the use of “we” when he had only been asking about Adrian. “Things are actually going well for my photography business, and Chelsea might get a promotion soon-”

“Oh?” Dan asked. “What do you do, Chelsea?”

“I’m a lawyer,” she beamed.

Dan turned to the stove to hide his frown. “That’s nice,” he managed through gritted teeth.

Adrian spoke up. “I told her that you went to law school.”

It was nicer than saying he had dropped out of law school, at least. “I did,” he acknowledged. “Briefly.” He opened the oven to check on the roast, which looked like it could use a few more minutes.

“Do you need any help with anything?” Chelsea asked, and a bolt of annoyance shot through Dan. _Now_ someone was asking?

“I think I’m good, thanks,” Dan said, turning back to them.

Luckily, Phil and Fiona came back into the kitchen to rescue Dan.

“Daddy!” Fiona squealed, running to Dan and clutching at his legs in a failed attempt at a hug. Dan smiled- a genuine one this time- and scooped her into her arms. Her white and pink dress rustled.

“You remember Uncle Adrian, right?” he asked Fiona. 

She nodded, clutching Dan’s shirt. Dan continued. “And this is his girlfriend Chelsea. Can you say hi?”

“Hi,” Fiona said, eyes wide. 

Dan kissed her forehead and set her down, mussing with her hair.

“Oy,” Phil said. “Don’t mess with the hair. It took me thirty minutes to get it untangled this morning.”

The doorbell rang. Dan shot Phil a confused look- why were so many people showing up early today? Phil just shrugged. “Can you get that?” he asked. “I’ll take care of the food.”

“Yeah,” Dan said, grateful for an excuse to escape. He left the kitchen, reaching to pat Fiona’s head as he left. He opened their front door to Martyn and Cornelia.

“You’re early,” he said, relieved.

“Phil texted us,” Martyn whispered. “Apparently your brother showed up too early so we should too?”

Dan thought he might cry, he was so grateful. “Yes,” he whispered back. “Thank you so much.”

“It was no problem,” Cornelia reassured him. “Thank you for hosting.”

“Of course,” Dan said, although he still slightly regretted it. “We’re in the kitchen.” 

They followed him, where Martyn and Cornelia immediately got to work unpacking the food they had brought, asking Phil if there was anything else they could do, and introducing themselves to Adrian and Chelsea.

They were the model houseguests. Dan again resisted the urge to cry.

Phil stepped up beside Dan. “I texted my mum and dad. They’re coming as soon as possible too.”

Dan squeezed Phil’s hand. “Thank you.”

After about fifteen more minutes of awkward chit-chat, the doorbell rang again. This time, it was Phil who slipped away to answer the door. He returned with his parents a few moments later.

“Dan!” Kathryn drew him into an unexpected but welcome hug while Nigel hung a bit back.

“Kath! It’s good to see you!”

Things returned to normal, at least, as normal as family reunions could be. Adrian and Chelsea continued to hold hands and stand way too close together. Dan politely ignored their cheek kisses. He assumed everyone else did too- either that or they were somehow immune to such blatant displays of heterosexuality.

The roast somehow escaped from Dan and Phil’s oven unharmed, to everyone’s surprise. Their dinner went nicely, with minimal spillage of food on Fiona’s dress and barely any arguing about politics. Adrian and Chelsea sat across from each other, so Dan didn’t have to see them holding hands under the table.

It wasn’t that they weren’t cute. They were, Dan had to admit. But they were so young, so perfect, so painfully straight, so lost in their own little world. Dan was sitting right next to Phil and he _still_ felt like he was third wheeling. 

Dan idly wondered if this was what it was like being around him and Phil all the time. No, he decided, he and Phil were undeniably a unit, but they didn’t _advertise_ it. Not with the constant, neverending whispers, giggles, glances, squeezing of hands. Maybe it was awkward sometimes, being around two people who knew each other so well, but being around Dan and Phil never felt like you were actively being excluded. Dan hoped it didn’t, anyway.

They got a moment of respite during the easter egg hunt. Fiona was the only grandchild of the family (even if Kathryn kept bugging Martyn and Cornelia to do something about that), but they still set out a bunch of easter eggs for her to find in Dan and Phil’s backyard. Phil delegated the responsibility of finding appropriate hiding spaces to Adrian and Chelsea, and Martyn and Cornelia insisted on clearing the table, leaving Dan, Phil, Fiona, Kathryn, and Nigel a minute to relax in the living room.

“What do you think of Chelsea?” Dan found himself asking the room at large.

Nigel just shrugged. “Adrian’s not my son. I don’t have any place saying anything about her.”

Kath also shrugged. “She seems nice enough. Bit early to be introducing her to the family, though, isn’t it?”

Thank god someone agreed. “A bit,” Dan agreed.

Phil quickly steered the conversation to a different subject. “Fiona’s been having a really good time at school lately.”

“Oh?” Kath said, setting down her cup of tea on the coffee table. “Do you want to tell me about it, sweetie?” she asked, extending her arms for her granddaughter to climb into. Fiona left her place by Phil’s side to climb into Kath’s lap.

“It’s fun,” she mumbled.

“Oh yeah?” she said, patting Fiona’s hair. “What parts?”

“Ava and I paint lots of pictures,” Fiona mumbled again.

“Who’s Ava?” Nigel asked.

Fiona hid her face in Kath’s shirt.

“Ava’s one of her friends from school,” Phil supplied.

“Is she nice?” Kath asked, petting Fiona’s head.

Fiona mumbled something, muffled by Kath’s shirt.

Kath switched tactics. “Can we see some of the paintings?”

Fiona happily led Kath and Nigel to the fridge where her paintings were hung, proudly presenting her work.

Phil smiled, reaching his hand for Dan’s and threading their fingers together, squeezing reassuringly. “You’re doing great,” he whispered.

“I’m not,” Dan whispered back.

“You haven’t killed him yet,” Phil said. “That’s good enough.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “The bar is literally on the floor.”

“Just don’t start digging, okay?”

Dan patted Phil’s cheek with his free hand. “I won’t.”

Adrian stepped back inside, closely followed by Chelsea. Dan let go of Phil’s hand and moved back a bit. To Dan’s surprise, they separated. Adrian peeled off to stand by Dan.

“Hey, Dan,” he said, worrying at his bottom lip. “Can we talk?”

Dan glanced out. “I was going to take Fiona out to look for the eggs before it got dark-”

Fiona heard the words “easter eggs” and came running. “It’s Easter egg time?” she asked.

“In a minute, honey,” Dan said absently.

Kath appeared close behind Fiona. “Nigel and I can take Fiona out to look for the eggs while you and Adrian talk,” Kath offered.

“Oh,” Dan said. “I guess that works.” He had been hoping to put off talking to his brother for as long as possible, but it wasn’t looking like he’d get the chance too.

“Perfect!” Kath said, leading Fiona out the door.

Adrian led Dan to the little hallway just off of the foyer. “What did you want to talk about?” Dan asked.

“What do you think of Chelsea?” Adrian asked.

“Why do you ask?” Dan said carefully.

“Because she’s my girlfriend, and I want to know what my family thinks of her,” Adrian said, annoyed.

Dan sighed.

“What?” Adrian asked.

“Why’d you bring her?” Dan asked.

“Because she’s my girlfriend,” Adrian said.

“You’ve been dating for three months, Adrian.”

His face was stony. “So?”

“I’m just saying, that’s not exactly enough time to be considered family.” He hadn’t started bringing Phil to family events until he came out to them a little under four years into Dan and Phil’s relationship.

Adrian narrowed his eyes. “Just because I didn’t wait for five fucking years, telling everyone we were just roommates-”

“Jesus, Adrian, are you two _living_ together? After three months?”

“No! God, Dan, I’m just saying-”

“You’re just saying that I should have come out sooner because it would be more convenient for you. I get it.” If Dan knew that his previous anger was the tiniest bit unjustified, he didn’t have any such concerns now. Implying that Dan had _wanted_ to hide in the closet for all those years crossed a line, and they both knew it.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“What did you mean, then?” Dan asked. “Explain.”

Adrian raised his hands in defense. “I meant that three months is a perfectly fine amount of time to wait before introducing someone to your family, all right? That’s all. I really like Chelsea and I wanted you all to meet her.”

“That’s another thing,” Dan said coldly. “Sure you like her, but you don’t know her. You’ve known her, what? Three months?”

“Six,” Adrian said. “We were friends before-”

“Oh, six then. Excuse me.” Dan knew he was going too far, but he couldn’t help it- he wanted to push this thing as far as it could go, until maybe it broke. “You two are so young,” he scoffed.

“You were eighteen.” Adrian looked Dan up and down in disgust. “Phil was twenty two. Get off your fucking high horse. Just because you have millions of people on the internet telling you how great your relationship is and how you’re the fucking epitome of love-”

Dan thought his eyes might be burning holes through Adrian now, but Adrian brazenly continued.

“Not all of us have your perfect fucking fairytale romance, you know. Some of us have to make do with what we have.”

“Adrian?” Chelsea’s voice came from the foyer. “What’s going on?”

“Chelsea,” he said, turning to her instantly. “I’m sorry, Dan and I are just...” He gestured fruitlessly between him and Dan. “Just talking,” he finished lamely.

“Oh,” she said.

“I think maybe we should go,” Adrian said.

Dan held back his sigh. “Don’t go,” he forced himself to say.

“I’ll see you at Christmas,” Adrian said.

Dan wasn’t sure if Adrian had meant for that comment to cut as deeply as it did.

He and Adrian had never been particularly close. There were just so many years between them, and so much else getting in the way. It wasn’t Dan’s intention that they grow up to be the kind of siblings who only ever saw each other on family holidays. It just kind of worked out that way.

“I’ll see you,” he said softly.

After Adrian and Chelsea left, everyone else slowly trickled out as well. It was about time for them to leave anyway- it was getting late.

After hugging everyone goodbye and making sure no one forgot anything, Dan, Phil, and Fiona were left standing in the foyer. Dan sighed, looking at the kitchen. He was never going to offer to host ever again. The cleanup was going to take way too long.

“Fiona, it’s time for bed,” Phil said, noticing the look in Dan’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Dan mouthed at Phil, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Phil led Fiona to her room, and Dan collapsed onto the couch. He sat, motionless, staring into the backyard. He thought he could see a flashes of brightly colored plastic left over from the Easter egg hunt illuminated by passing headlights. Fiona must have missed some eggs. He and Phil would have to pick those up up later, he though.

Phil sat down next to Dan on the couch.

“God,” Dan said. “That was a disaster.”

Phil rubbed Dan’s arm in sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

“I just wanted to have a nice day with my family,” Dan said.

“I wanted you to too,” Phil said, reaching over to kiss Dan’s forehead and pull him to his chest.

“Everything sucks,” Dan said, muffled into Phil’s shirt.

“I know,” Phil said. “I’m sorry.” He paused. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Hold me,” Dan said.

“Check,” Phil said, gathering Dan a little bit closer.

“Tighter,” Dan said.

Phil pulled him in closer.

“More,” Dan said.

Phil squeezed Dan as tightly as he could, then let go. “Dan, I feel like I’m going to hurt you,” he said.

“You won’t,” Dan said. “Please just. Please.”

Phil didn’t pretend to understand why Dan needed him like this, but he didn’t argue. He just held him.

**Author's Note:**

> [like/rb on tumblr if you'd like!](https://counting2fifteen.tumblr.com/post/614572870143754240/summary-just-because-youre-family-doesnt-mean)


End file.
